Thursday, April 4, 2013

I've posted about why we need good copy editors...as authors and readers...a few times before, but something interesting came up earlier this week and I wanted to post about it before I forget.

First, a good copy editor to a writer is one of the most essential elements in the process of creating a book. Those authors who work with publishers, either large or small, probably already know this, so this post is more geared toward self-published authors right now. It's not always a magical experience, working with a copy editor. I always know immediately if I'm going to get along with him/her the minute I start reading copy edits. You can tell by the little things. Like when the copy editor questions something in erotic romance such as the "lips" of an anus and he/she suggests you change it to something like "ring" or "rosebud." Neither of those two words work for me, so I reply in the comments. Sometimes I do it with a smile face and reply with humor: "Rings are for fingers and rosebuds are for vases. I'll stick with lips on this one, thanks."

But even in cases where I'm not always on the same page, so to speak, with the copy editor, I've still found that it's better than not having one at all. And that's because the copy editor picks up the little issues in a book that authors often overlook. Issues like spelling, grammar, and whether or not certain things in the book are consistent. And this past week something interesting happened that I would have overlooked completely had it not been for my wonderful copy editor, Jen Safrey, at Ravenous Romance. The issue she caught in my recent Bad Boy Billionaire book, The Silicon Valley Sex Scandal, could have been embarrassing for me. And I honestly would NOT have known this until a reader or reviewer pointed it out after publication.

Toward the end of The Silicon Valley Sex Scandal, there's a scene where the main character, bad boy Shannon, is all alone at work and he's reflecting on his life. The original scene read like this:

It always reminded Shannon of something his
grandmother had once told him. “No one’s going to remember your name, your
clothes, or the kind of car you drive. Most don’t care about how much money you
have or what kind of luggage you carry. They won’t remember your phone number
or where you live. They might not even remember what you look like half the
time. But they’ll always remember the way you made them feel.

That looks fine on the surface, and it actually is something my own grandmother used to say. However, the copy editor pointed out that author Maya Angelou had once made a quote just like this. So I checked that out and this is the quote Maya Angelou once made:

“I've
learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Now that's just too close for comfort for me. And if my wonderful copy editor had not caught this, I'm sure someone else would have and it could have been extremely embarrassing. Although I had no intention of using a quote from Maya Angelou without giving her full credit, there are people out there who don't know that and don't care about that and I would have been slammed for it, and probably with an epic shitstorm. So I immediately revised that scene to read this way:It always reminded him of something his
grandmother had once told him. “No one’s going to remember your name, your
clothes, or the kind of car you drive. Most don’t care about how much money you
have or what kind of luggage you carry. They won’t remember your phone number
or where you live. They might not even remember what you look like half the
time. But they’ll always remember the way you treated them.

It really was something my grandmother used to say, and she'd never even heard of Maya Angelou, trust me on that. But, just to play it safe, I even added this next paragraph in case someone decided to question it:

His
grandmother wasn’t the most prolific woman, nor was she the wisest he’d ever
met. She was no Maya Angelou, with tons of prolific quotes about life. But on
occasion she came up with words of wisdom. Unfortunately, he hadn’t always
listened.

So you see what I'm talking about with copy editors. Even though my quote in the book wasn't exactly like Maya Angelou's quote, I figured that if the copy editor felt it resembled Angelou's quote that much so would someone else. And I changed it immediately.

If you are a self-published author and you have a small budget, I think the one thing I would suggest more than anything would be to hire a copy editor. You could get lucky and nothing huge could be wrong. I've had books come back from copy edits with nothing but spelling and grammatical errors. But you could also be taking a huge chance with something embarrassing.

Here's the blurb for The Silicon Valley Sex Scandal It's not on sale yet anywhere, but I'll post more when it is. This one was fun to write because I get into some interesting current issues, like catfishing and sockpuppetry with a made up web site called Lovemetender.com.

Shannon Winn is known as the world’s most capricious
gay billionaire and the owner of the world’s safest, coolest social media web
site, lovemetender.com. When Shannon
meets a guy named Terry on his own web site, he considers it fun and games, not
looking for a relationship.

And that’s because Shannon already has an open
relationship with his personal assistant, Justin. Although they aren’t
committed to each other, Shannon’s not looking to meet anyone else for love.
This bad boy just wants to fool around with Terry and forget all about him the
next day.

It’s unfortunate for Shannon that Terry doesn’t
realize this, because after their first and only time together Terry not only
falls in love with Shannon, he begins to stalk him and imagine them as a
couple. In the course of one week, Terry follows Shannon’s every move, showing
up unexpectedly and seducing Shannon with great success.

When bad boy Shannon finally realizes the fatal
mistakes he’s made with Terry, and he knows for certain he’s really in love
with Justin, it just might be too late for them. Will Terry’s crazed
infatuation with Shannon ruin Shannon’s chances of true love with Justin? And
will delusional Terry finally snap and kill them all?

Second Chance: The Complete Series

About Me

Ryan
@ryanfield
Hybrid author of over 100 published modern romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN, FANGSTERS, THE RAINBOW DETECTIVE AGENCY and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. (The profile photo isn't very good, but it's really me and it's recent from 2017. I'm not supposed to be a photographer. )
RfieldJ@aol.com

Second Chance: His Only Choice

Second Chance: The Sweetest Apple

Cowboy Christmas Miracle Glendora Hill Series

The Littlest Christmas Tree

Book 2 Second Chance Series

Best Seller on Allromanceebooks.com

Bad Boy Billionaire: The Actor Learning to Love

I won't give out any spoilers, but this is the first time I've ever worked the attacks on the World Trade Center into a novel (you can see the twin towers in the background on the cover)...it's also the first time I've ever written a strong lesbian theme into the subplot.

The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance

An Anthology with Ryan Field Press, release date August 30, 2013...links to follow soon.

Fangsters: Clan of the Jersey Boys

At a glance, Anton Pagano looks and sounds just like any other twenty-something. He lives in a mansion in northern New Jersey with his mom and dad, and he's never had to worry about anything other than his wardrobe, his latest new car, and the secret love affair he's been having for years. However, Anton has more than just the love affair to hide: he belongs to a Sicilian vampire mobster clan that migrated to New Jersey in the late 1800s.

The Wall Street Shark

Third installment of the Bad Boy Billionaire series.

Note to All Readers...

I welcome all comments and e-mails from readers of this blog or readers of my books.

All comments on this blog are treated with absolute discretion and all anonymous comments will remain private at all times. All reader e-mails sent to me in private will also be treated with discretion and will never, NEVER, be reprinted or reposted anywhere in public by me unless I get permission, in writing, from the reader. In other words, your privacy will always be respected.

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That Cowboy in the Window

Erotic Gay Romance with a twist.

Chase of a Dream

In this 59,000 word unabridged version of the sequel to "Chase of a Lifetime" that contains all of the original erotic scenes, Jim Darling finally finds the happiness he's been chasing for so long. He and Len Mayfield have settled into a quiet routine in their small newly renovated home in the Hollywood Hills, and they enjoy every minute they spend together raising Len's toddler grandson, Culum Mayfied.

An Officer and His Gentleman

Alyson Books

Ravenous Romance

all romance ebooks

Cleis Press

Pretty Man

Unlike most stories, where the rich and powerful husband dumps the hard working, devoted life partner for someone younger, this one takes a turn in the opposite direction when the rich husband is the one to get dumped. But with young Josh's help, Roland learns in less than a week's time that his future can still hold both earth-shattering sex and a love of real substance.

Whatever, Dude

When a young professional is mistaken for a hooker, the outcome is always shocking.

Disclaimer

I don't post photos or images here unless I'm certain they fall under the guidelines of fair use or public domain. But this blog has been around for a while and even though I've triple checked previous posts for photos and taken down anything questionable, I might have missed something and my intention was not to infringe on anyone's rights. I will continue to update, and all photos I post now will provide attribution of some kind. If not, they are believed to be in the public domain.